No. 35 of 2020 · Assented 28 September 2020
The Industrial Relations Code, 2020
Trade unions, standing orders, disputes, strikes and lock-outs, lay-off, retrenchment and closure.
104sections
14chapters
56gazette pages
In force since 21 November 2025
Chapters
- IPreliminaryThis chapter says where the Code applies and when it starts, and defines the words the rest of the Code depends on: worker, employee, employer, industry, strike, lay-off, retrenchment, fixed term employment and wages. These definitions decide who counts as a worker, what counts as an industrial dispute, which exits count as retrenchment, and what counts as a strike.§1–216 minSupervisor pay above which a person is not a "worker": ₹18,000 per month (or as notified by the Central Government)Share of workers on concerted casual leave that counts as a strike: 50% or more on a given day
- IIBi-Partite ForumsThis chapter sets up two in-house forums where the employer and workers sit together: the Works Committee, for good relations on matters of common concern, and the Grievance Redressal Committee, for an individual worker's complaints. It also lays down the timelines a worker follows to take an unresolved grievance, or a dismissal or termination, to conciliation and then to the Tribunal.§3–44 minWorkers needing a Grievance Redressal Committee: 20 or moreMaximum members of a Grievance Redressal Committee: 10
- IIITrade UnionsThis chapter sets the rules for registering, running, renaming, merging and dissolving trade unions, including how many members a union needs and who may hold union office. It also tells an employer which union to negotiate with: a sole negotiating union where one has enough support, or a negotiating council where none does. It covers the legal protections unions enjoy and sends union disputes to the Tribunal instead of civil courts.§5–2722 minMembership needed to register and stay registered: 10% of workers or 100, whichever is less (minimum seven to stay registered)Support needed for sole negotiating union: 51% or more of workers on muster roll
- IVStanding OrdersThis chapter requires larger industrial establishments to have written standing orders, the formal service rules on matters such as classification of workers, leave, attendance, misconduct and termination. It sets out how the employer drafts them from the Central Government's model, how a certifying officer certifies them, when they come into force and how they can be changed. It also sets a normal 90-day target for finishing inquiries against suspended workers and the subsistence allowance owed to a worker while suspended.§28–3911 minChapter applies at: 300 or more workers (any day in the last 12 months)Certifying officer's deadline: 60 days from receiving the draft, then deemed certified
- VNotice of ChangeThis chapter bars an employer from changing a worker's conditions of service on any matter listed in the Third Schedule without first giving notice to the workers likely to be affected and then waiting 21 days. It lists the situations where no notice is needed and lets the government exempt whole classes of establishments or workers. For an employer it sets the minimum lead time for such changes; for workers it means 21 days' warning before the change takes effect.§40–412 minWaiting period after notice before a change can be made: 21 days
- VIVoluntary Reference of Disputes to ArbitrationThis chapter lets an employer and its workers send an existing or expected industrial dispute to an arbitrator they choose themselves, by written agreement. It sets out how the agreement is made, who gets heard, when the government can stop an ongoing strike or lock-out, and makes clear that the general Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 does not govern these arbitrations.§422 min
- VIIMechanism for Resolution of Industrial DisputesThis chapter sets up the machinery that settles industrial disputes: conciliation officers who mediate, and Industrial Tribunals and National Industrial Tribunals that decide. It fixes the deadlines for conciliation and for going to the Tribunal, what a Tribunal can order in a dismissal case, how long settlements and awards last and whom they bind, and how a worker recovers money owed.§43–6124 minCut-off for holding conciliation: 2 years from when the dispute aroseConciliation report deadline: 45 days from the start of conciliation (14 days in strike or lock-out notice cases)
- VIIIStrikes and Lock-OutsThis chapter sets out when workers may not strike and when an employer may not lock out workers: without notice, too soon after notice, while a dispute is before a conciliation officer, a Tribunal or National Industrial Tribunal, or a notified arbitrator (and for a set period afterwards), or on matters a settlement or award already covers. It decides which strikes and lock-outs are illegal, and it bars anyone from knowingly funding an illegal one.§62–643 minNotice must be given within: 60 days before the strike or lock-outEarliest start after notice: 14 days after the notice
- IXLay-Off, Retrenchment and ClosureThis chapter sets the money and notice a worker gets when the employer lays them off, retrenches them, closes the business or transfers it to a new owner. In non-seasonal factories, mines and plantations with 50 or more workers on average, a laid-off worker with one year's service gets half of basic wages plus dearness allowance. On retrenchment, closure or a transfer, a worker with one year's service gets one month's notice (or wages instead) and 15 days' average pay, or such other number of days as the government notifies, for every completed year of service. An employer closing an undertaking must also give the government at least 60 days' notice, unless it is a small establishment (fewer than 50 workers) or a construction project.§65–7612 minLay-off compensation: 50% of basic wages + dearness allowanceWorkers needed for lay-off compensation rules: 50 or more on average per working day in the previous calendar month
- XSpecial Provisions Relating to Lay-Off, Retrenchment and Closure in Certain EstablishmentsThis chapter sets a stricter regime for larger factories, mines and plantations, those with an average of 300 or more workers. In these establishments the employer needs the government's prior permission to lay off workers, retrench them or close an undertaking. Going ahead without applying, or after permission is refused, makes the step illegal, and workers keep all their benefits as if it never happened.§77–8212 minWorkers that bring an establishment under this chapter: 300 or more (average per working day, previous 12 months), or a higher number notified by the governmentNotice before retrenchment: 3 months in writing, or wages in lieu
- XIWorker Re-skilling FundThis chapter has the appropriate Government set up a worker re-skilling fund by notification. For every worker it retrenches, the employer of an industrial establishment pays into the fund an amount equal to 15 days' wages last drawn by that worker (or another number of days the Central Government notifies). The fund then credits 15 days' wages last drawn to the retrenched worker's account within 45 days of the retrenchment, in a manner to be laid down by rules, so every retrenchment carries this cost for the employer and a payment for the worker.§831 minEmployer contribution per retrenched worker: 15 days' wages last drawn (the Central Government can notify a different number of days)Amount credited to the retrenched worker's account: 15 days' wages last drawn
- XIIUnfair Labour PracticesThis chapter is a single section that bans unfair labour practices. The ban applies to employers, workers and trade unions alike, whether or not the union is registered, and the acts it forbids are the ones listed in the Code's Second Schedule. For employers, workers and unions, it makes the Second Schedule the list of conduct that is off limits in their dealings with each other. That list is not frozen: the Central Government can add to or amend the Second Schedule by notification under section 101.§841 min
- XIIIOffences and PenaltiesThis chapter sets the fines and jail terms for breaking the Industrial Relations Code, from unlawful lay-offs, retrenchment and closures to unfair labour practices, standing-order lapses, trade union filing defaults and illegal strikes and lock-outs, with steeper penalties for repeat offences. It also says who can impose penalties, which courts try offences, when company officers are personally liable, and how many offences can be settled (compounded) by paying a fixed share of the maximum fine. For employers and workers alike, it shows what non-compliance actually costs.§85–8911 minFine for breaking the lay-off, retrenchment and closure rules in sections 78–80: ₹1 lakh – ₹10 lakhFine for not submitting draft standing orders or modifying them improperly: ₹50,000 – ₹2 lakh, plus ₹2,000 a day while it continues
- XIVMiscellaneousThis chapter freezes an employer's hand while a dispute is pending: service conditions linked to the dispute cannot be worsened and workers cannot be punished over it without the authority's written permission, with extra protection for recognised union office-bearers. It also sets who may represent the parties (lawyers only in limited cases), protects workers who refuse to join an illegal strike, and gives the government powers to exempt, make rules and remove difficulties. Its last section repeals the Trade Unions Act, the Standing Orders Act and the Industrial Disputes Act, as amended in 2026.§90–10422 minProtected workers per establishment: 1% of workers (minimum 5, maximum 100)Wages to be paid before discharge or dismissal during a pending dispute: 1 month